Apparatus for spacing characters



Sept. 27, 1966 M. HAUERBACH APPARATUS FOR SPACING CHARACTERS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 8, 1963 MOkUmPm D @EMM l 202 NEE/:JOU

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MUNZJO VOJU Sept. 27, 1966 M. HAUERBACH APPARATUS FOR SPACING CHARACTERS2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8, 1963 United States Patent O 3,274,909APPARATUS FOR SPACING CHARACTERS Markvard Hauerbach, Mountain View,Calif., asslg'nor to A. B. Dick Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation ofIllinois Filed Aug. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 300,769 6 Claims. (Cl. 95-45) Thisinvention relates to improvements in means for spacing characters andfinds particular utility in photocomposition systems.

Typical of the photocomposition systems disclosed in the prior art arethose which employ a character generating cathode ray tube, such as amonoscope, in con junction with a display cathode ray tube which hasassociated therewith a camera-type device including a light sensitivefilm. In all such systems, it is desirable to be able to justify amessage or line of characters so that the characters exactly till thespace devoted to a line. That is, a line of characters is justified whenthe characters are properly spaced and in addition have the tlirstcharacter in the message aligned with a left margin and the lastcharacter in the message aligned with a right margin. Variousjustification techniques are proposed in the prior `art but all requirerelatively complex and extensive hardware.

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus for spacing orjustifying a line of characters which is considerably simpler, lessexpensive, and more reliable than heretofore known methods andapparatus.

Briefly, the invention herein is directed to apparatus for spacing orperforming justification on a relatively small, but significant, segmentof printed matter. Typical of this segment is a telephone directory inwhich entries or messages are arranged in columns and each messageincludes a first portion (name and address) and a last `portion(telephone number) with spacer characters (dots) separating the firstand last portions. Justification of this type of material requires thatthe first letter in the telephone subscribers last name be aligned withthe left column margin and the last digit of the telephone number bealigned with the right column margin. Inasmuch as the widths ofdifferent characters are different (i.e. is a wider character than 1),it should be apparent that alignment of the last digit of each telephonenumber with the right column cannot be assured merely by aligning thefirst digits of each telephone number.

In accordance with the invention, character spacing is accomplished byinitially displaying the first character of the first message portion inalignment with a left column margin and subsequent characters in saidfirst message portion spaced incremental distances to the right thereofand secondly displaying the last character in said second messageportion in alignment with a right column margin with prior characters insaid second message portion spaced incremental distances to the leftthereof. As a consequence, all column entries are automatically justiiedand space between the first character in the second message portion andthe last character in the first message portion is lled with spacercharacters.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the characters of the secondmessage portion are generated in reverse order, that is from right toleft, by effectively reversing the polarity of the potential normallyapplied to the deiiection plates or coil of both the character generatorcathode ray tube and display cathode ray tube. The character generatortube functions in response to digital information stored in a memory,for example of the punched paper tape type, which information includes areverse" command code which is read after the character codes of thefirst message portion have been read. In response to the reverse commandcode, a reverse switch is actuated to reverse the deiiection polarity.In order to determine how many spacer characters should be generated totill the space between the first character of the second message portionand the last character of the first message portion, means are providedfor totaling the space required to display the message characters andfor subtracting this space from the total space provided for a messageto thereby obtain a space difference. The number of spacer characters tobe generated is then determined based on the magnitude of the spacedifference.

Although the disclosed embodiment makes use of a monoscope charactergenerator, it is pointed out that the invention is equally as applicableto systems using other character generators, as for example a flyingspot scanner.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of this inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The inventionitself both as to its organization and method of operation, as well asadditional objects and advantages thereof, will best understood from thefollowing `description when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a block diagram of apparatus utilized to couple manual inputmeans, such as a typewriter, t0 a paper tape punch;

FIGURE 2 is a block diagram of a photo-composition system constructed inaccordance with the present invention and responsive to punched papertape provided by the apparatus of FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 3 illustrates a typical character region on the target of themonoscope of FIGURE 2.

Attention is now called to FIGURE 1 of the drawings which illustratesapparatus for enabling an operator to form a punched paper tape, for useby the apparatus of FIGURE 2, from a manuscript. It is assumed that themanuscript comprises a listing of all telephone subscrihers togetherwith appropriate address and telephone number information. It is ofcourse immaterial ns to whether or not the lines of the manuscript arejustified.

The apparatus of FIGURE l includes a typewriter keyboard comprised of aplurality of keys l0, each key comprising a switch connected to adifferent input terminal of an encoder circuit l2. The encoder circuitl2 includes an output register (not shown) and in response to thedepression of any one of the keys 10 will enter a corresponding codeinto the output register. For illustrative purposes herein, it will beassumed that up to 64 different keys are provided and that a differentsix bit binary code is entered into the encoder circuit output registerin response to the depression of each key. In accordance with apreferred embodiment of the invention, the operator will successivelytype the characters of the telephone subscribers name and addressinserting appropriate spaces where necessary. After typing this firstmessage portion, the operator will insert an "end of first messageportion character (n) and then type the digits of the subscriberstelephone number in reverse order. Subsequently, an end of messagecharacter (d) will be typed.

The encoder circuit 12 has six output lines extending therefrom, eachoutput line connected to the data input terminal of a different one ofthe shift registers 13. In addition to the data input terminal, eachshift register 13 is provided with a shift" command terminal. The outputof an And gate 14 is connected to the shift command terminal of each ofthe shift registers 13. One of the inputs to the And gate 14 comprisesthe output of a clock source 16 while the other input to the And gate 14comprises the true output terminal of a set-reset flip-hop 18.

Connected to the set input terminal of ip-flop 18 is the output of an Orgate 20 whose inputs are each respectively connected to a different oneof the keys 10. The output of clock source 16 is in addition connectedto the reset input terminal of ip-op 18.

In response to the operator depressing a key 10, a six bit code will begenerated by the encoder circuit 12 and entered into the encoder circuitoutput register. 1n addition, the output of Or gate 20 will be made trueto thereby set liip-tiop 18. In response to the next clock pulse derivedfrom source 16, the contents of the encoder circuit output reigster willbe entered into the left most stage of the various shift registers 13and the flip-liep 18 will be reset. Subsequent depressions of the keys10 will cause additional six bit codes to be entered into the shiftregisters 13 with previously entered codes being shifted to the right.

The output of And gate 14 is additionally connected to the input of Orgate 21 whose output is connected to the inputs of each of a pluralityof And gates 22. A second input to each of the And gates 22 is derivedfrom the output of a different one of the shift registers 13. Theoutputs of each of the And gates 22 is connected to an input channel ofa paper tape punch 23. As a consequence of this apparatus, in responseto each key 10 being depressed by an operator, a code will be enteredinto the shift registers, which code will be shifted one stage to theright as each succeeding code is entered. The output of the shiftregisters is coupled through the And gates 22 to the paper tape punch23.

In addition to each code that is entered into the output register of theencoder circuit 12 being transferred to the shift registers 13, eachcode is applied to the input of a value table 24 which includes a memoryin which is stored information defining the Width or horizontal spacealong a line of displayed characters that each character should occupy.For example, let it be assumed that proper spacing requires that thecharacter i" occupies two unit spaces while the character w occupiesthree unit spaces. In response to the application of the code definingcharacter i to the value table 24, the value table 24 will provide twooutput pulses or some other manifestations representing the numeral 2.In response to the application of a code defining character w to thevalue tabie 24, the value table 24 will provide three output pulses. Theoutput of the value table 24 is connected to the input of an Or gate 26whose output in turn is coupled to a decrementing terminal of a counter28. Prior to an operator typing a message, the count in the counter 28is set to a number representing the maximum number of units in a line tobe displayed. Consequently, after the operator has typed all thecharacters and spaces in a message, the count remaining in the counter28 will represent that space in each displayed message that has to betilled with spacer characters such as dots.

A second input to Or gate 26 is derived from And gate 3|) whose inputsrespectively comprise the output of clock source 16 and the output of adetector 32 which functions to detect the end of message character (qb)provided at the output of the shift registers. The output of the counler28 is connected to the input of a non-zero detector 34 whose output inturn is coupled to the input of an And gate 36 along with the output ofAnd gate 30. The output of And gate 36 is coupled to the input of thepreviously mentioned Or gate 21 and to a typewriter lockout device 38.

In the operation of the apparatus of FIGURE 1 an operator willsuccessively type the characters of the name and address of a telephonesubscriber in a forward direction. For purposes of illustration, thename Joe Simth and the address 10 Oak are illustrated in FIGURE l. Itshould be clear that each character is in fact represented by six binarydigits in corresponding stages of the six shift registers 13. Inaccordance with the invention, the

operator will type an end of first message portion character (0) afterthe characters of the name and address of the telephone subscriber aretyped. Then, the characters representing the digits of the subscriberstelephone number will be typed in reverse order. That is, let it beassumed that the telephone number of Joe Smith is 347-6573. The operatorwill type this in reverse order so that after the end of first messageportion character is typed, the digits of the telephone number will betyped in the following order: 3-7-5-6-7-4-3. Subsequently, the operatorwill type the end of message character As characters are being enteredinto the shift registers, their width or space value in units isdetermined by the value table 24 and the count in counter 28 isdecremented accordingly, Consequently, when the detector 32 detects theend of message character the count in counter 28 will represent thespace difference between the space to be occupied by the displayedcharacters (including appropriate spaces) and the total space availablein which to display a line of characters. In response to the detectionby detector 32 of the end of message character and the generation of apulse by clock source 16, the And gate 30 will provide an output pulse.The output of And gate 30 is coupled through Or gate 26 to decrement thecounter 28 by one for each clock pulse. So long as the count in counter28 is greater than zero, the And gate 36 will likewise provide an outputsignal which will enable Or gate 21 to repeatedly enter the end ofmessage character code into the paper tape `punch device 23. During thistime the operator is prevented from entering new information into theshift registers by virtue of the lockout device 38 being actuated. As apractical matter, inasmuch as the frequency of the clock pulse source 16can be reasonably high and the number of end of message character codesthat need be repeatedly generated relatively small, the typewriterlockout device need be energized for only a fraction of a second whichwill not impede the operators progress. Of course, in order to avoideven this short duration lockout, appropriate buffering means can beprovided to accept new information even when the shift registers areprevented from shifting.

From the above explanation, it should be apparent that the tape derivedfrom the paper tape punch device 23 will therefore have not only theappropriate character information in the first and second messageportions but in addition will include .a number of end of messagecharacter codes equal to the appropriate number of spacer characters tobe inserted between the first and second message portions.

Attention is now called to FIGURE 2 which illustrates apparatus forresponding to codes provided on a tape formed by the paper tape punch 23of FIGURE 1 for forming video signal representative of characters forapplication to a display device. `Means are provided for justifying thecharacters displayed and in addition a camera-type device is providedfor recording the display on a light sensitive film.

More particularly, the apparatus of FIGURE 2 includes a charactergenerator tube 40 which, for purposes of illustration herein, will beassumed to be `a monoscope. A monoscope consists of a substantiallyconventional cathode ray tube having a target separated into a pluralityof regions including areas having different secondary emissioncharacteristics. FIGURE 3 illustrates a typical regi-on and includes acharacter area 42 having a first secondary emission characteristicenveloped by a guard area 44 having a second secondary emissioncharacteristic. Spaced beneath the character area 42 is a guide bar area46 having a first secondary emission characteristic. Means are providedfor generating a beam in the cathode ray monoscope tube 40 which can bedeflected by electrostatic or electromagnetic means to a particularcharacter region on the monoscope target and thereafter can be caused totrace a scanning raster over the character region in order to derivevideo signals which are applied to a display cathode ray tube 50.

The beam in monoscope cathode `ray tube 40 is controlled in response toa paper tape read by tape reader 52. The output of tape reader 52 iscoupled to a data pulse source 54 which in turn is coupled to the inputof indexing circuits 56. The indexing circuits 56 function to develophorizontal and vertical analog deflection voltages in response todigital data signals provided by the data pulse source 54 forsuccessively defiecting the monoscope tube beam to target regionsdesignated by successive codes read by tape reader S12. It is herepointed out that the beam is deflected to a region including a spacercharacter (dot) in response to each end of rnessage code (tp) detected.The horizontal and vertical `analog deeotion voltage developed byindexing circuits 56 are respectively applied to adder circuits 58 and60. The output of adder -circuit 60 is directly applied to verticaldeection plates 62 in the monoscope tube 40. The vertical deflectionsvoltage provided by the indexing circuits 56 deects the beam in the tube40 to a position below the upper surface of the guide bar area 46 in aselected target region. In order to cause the beam to scan a targetregion, a vertical scanning voltage derived from a raster generator 64is also applied to the adder 60. The vertical scanning voltage comprisesa high frequency sawtooth wave which repeatedly causes the beam to bemoved vertically from the guide bar area and through the guard andcharacter areas 44 and 42.

In order to enable the beam to trace a raster for the purpose ofdeveloping video signals representative of the character in the regionbeing scanned, means must be provided for incrementally horizontallydeilecting the beam for each vertical scanning line traced. Thehorizontal detiection voltage provided by the indexing circuits 56normally positions the beam approximately in the horizontal center ofthe guide bar area '46. The horizontal deflection voltage provided bythe horizontal output of the raster generator `64 is added to thehorizontal voltage derived from the indexing circuits `56 in the adder58. The polarity of the horizontal voltage derived from the rastergenerator 64 is determined by the state of a setreset flip-flop 66 whichcontrols a reversing switch 68. The effect of the polarity of thehorizontal voltage derived from the raster generator 64 is to cause thebeam in the tube 40 to either be deflected from left to right or rightto left under the influence of the deflection plates 70 coupled to theoutput of adder circuit 58. The state of the flip-liep '66 is determinedby detectors 72 and 74 whose inputs are each coupled to the output oftape reader 52. Detector 72 functions to detect the end of first messageportion character and detector 74 functions to detect the end of messagecharacter. Detection by detector 72 sets flip-flop 66 while detection bydetector 74 resets tip-op 66. The true output terminal of dip-flop 66 iscoupled to the input of an And gate 76 of reversing switch 168. Thefalse output terminal of riipaop 66 is similarly connected to the inputof an And gate 78 of the reversing switch 68. The horizontal outputterminal of the raster generator 64 is connected to the inputs of bothAnd gates 76 and 78. The output of And gate 76 is connected through aninverter `80 to the input of an Or gate 82 along with the output of Andgate 78. The output of Or gate 82 is applied to the adder 58.Consequently, when the flip-flop 66 is true, the character regions ofthe monoscope target dened by the characters of the second messageportion will be scanned from right to left. On the other hand, when the`flip-flop 66 is false, the characters on the monoscope target definedby the characters of the rst message portion will be scanned from leftto right.

Video signals derived from the monoscope tube 40 as a result of the beamscanning areas in each target region having different secondary emissioncharacteristics, are coupled through video amplifier 84 to a controlelectrode of display cathode ray tube 50 in order to modulate theintensity of the beam therein.

`In order to cause the display cathode ray tube 50 to display charactersrepresented by the video signals, in addition to modulating theintensity of the display tube beam, it is necessary to cause the displaytube `beam to trace a raster in the same manner as the raster traced bythe monoscope tube beam. In order to avoid improper vertical alignmentof displayed characters however, in lieu of synchronizing the scanningof the display tube beam with the monoscope tube beam, means areprovided for initiating the display tube vertical scan in response tothe monoscope tube beam emerging from the guide bar area 46 and enteringthe guard area 44. `Inasmuch as the character areas 42 in all of themonoscope target regions are spaced from the upper surface of theircorresponding guide bar area 46 by the same distance, this techniqueassures that the bottom surface of all displayed characters will bealigned. This alignment technique is implemented by coupling a verticaltiming pulse, as for example the vertical retrace blank pulse derivedfrom the raster generator 64, through a differentiator circuit 86 and aone-shot multivibrator 88 to the input of an And gate 90. The output ofthe video amplifier 84 in addition to being applied to the controlelectrode of the display tube S0, is coupled through a differentiatorcircuit 92 which in turn is connected to a second input of the And gate90. The emergence of the monoscope tube beam from the guide bar area 46into the guard area 44 will be detected by the video amplifier `84 andwill consequently appear as a spike on the input of And gate 90. Sincethis spike will appear within the initial portion 0f each verticalscanning line interval, it can be separated from the video signalrepresenting the character information by enabling gate i90 only forthis initial interval portion- More particularly, the vertical retraceblank pulse derived from raster generator 64 is differentiated and usedto trigger the one-shot multivibrator 88 which is conscqucntly turned onfor the initial portion (eg. 10 percent) of the vertical scanning lineinterval. The spike provided by the differentiator circuit 92 is coupledthrough the And gate 90 and applied to a horizontal generator 96 and avertical scanning generator 98.

The output of the vertical scanning generator 98 is applied to the inputof an adder circuit 100 along with the output of a vertical outputterminal of a display format generator 102. The output of the horizontalscanning generator 96 is coupled through a reversing switch 104, similarto reversing switch 68, to the input of adder circuit 106. The secondinput to adder circuit 106 is derived from the horizontal outputterminal of the display format generator 102. The outputs of addercircuits 100 and 106 are respectively applied to the vertical andhorizontal deflection plates 108 and 110 respectively of the displaycathode ray tube 50.

As pointed out, by energizing the vertical scanning generator 98 inresponse to the emergence of the monoscope tube beam from the guide bararea 46 which is spaced the same distance from the character area 42 inall of the monoscopc target regions, vertical alignment of allcharacters displayed by the tube 50 is assured. Proportionate spacing ofeach character is effected by the horizontal length of each guide bararca 46. More particularly, inasmuch as the horizontal and verticalscanning generators 96 and 98 are energized to generate a differentscanning line only when the monoscope beam emerges from the guide bararea 46 and enters the guard area 44 of a target region, no horizontalscanning of the display tube beam will be effected when the verticalscanning lines of the monoscope tube beam are either to the left or theright ofthe guide bar arca 46. Consequently, the characters displayed bydisplay tube 50 will have a width or in other words, occupy a horizontalspace proportional to the length of the guide bar area 46 correspondingthereto.

The display format generator 102 functions to provide horizontal andvertical output deflection voltages. The vertical deflection voltage soprovided establishes the vertical position of the display tube beam orin other words the vertical position of a line of characters to beprinted in a column of such lines. The horizontal deflection voltage soprovided positions the display tube beam in alignment with either a leftor right margin. More particularly, in response to a true state offlip-flop 66, the display format generator 102 provides a horizontaldeflection voltage deflecting the display tube beam to a position inalignment with the right margin while a false state of the flipflop 66positions the beam in alignment with the left margin. The deflectionvoltage provided by the horizontal scanning generator 96 serves toincrementally deflect the beam to the right when it is positionedadjacent the left margin and incrementally deflect the beam to the leftwhen it is positioned adjacent the right margin.

The horizontal scanning generator 96 preferably includes a capacitorwhich is charged by each spike passed by And gate 90. The charge orvoltage across the capacitor 96 is added to the voltage provided by thehorizontal output terminal of the display format generator 102 todevelop a total horizontal defiection voltage which is provided by adder106 to the horizontal deflection plates 110. The polarity of the voltageprovided by the horizontal scanning generator 96 is determined by thecondition of the reversing switch 104 which in turn is controlled by thestate ofthe flip-flop 66.

More particularly, when the fiip-flop 66 is true, the potential on thecapacitor in the horizontal scanning generator 96 will be added to thehorizontal defiection voltage provided by the display format generator102 so as to incrementally deflect the display tube beam to the left inresponse to each increase in potential across the scanning generatorcapacitor. Conversely, when the flip-flop 66 is false, increases inpotential across the capacitor of the scanning generator 96 will beadded to the horizontal deflection voltage provided by the formatgenerator 102 so as to incrementally deflect the beam in display tube 50t0 the right.

The horizontal scanning generator 96 is provided with a reset terminal97. The application of a pulse to the reset terminal 97 functions todischarge the scanning generator capacitor. Discharge should be effectedof course in response to sufficient deflection of the display tube beamto the right to fully display the first message portion or sufficientdeflection of the display tube beam to the left to display the secondmessage portion and spacer characters. Detection by detectors 72 and 74can be utilized to sense these conditions. Accordingly, the output ofdelector 72 is coupled to the input of And gate 112 while the output ofdetector 74 is connected to the input of And gate 114. The true outputof flip-flop 66 is connected to the input of And gate 114 and the falseoutput of flipflop 66 is connected to the input of And gate 112. Theoutputs of And gates 112 and 114 are connected to the input of Or gate116 whose output in turn is coupled to the discharge input terminal 97.

When flip-flop 66 is in a true state, meaning that the display tube beamis being traced from right to left and when an end of message characteris sensed by the detector 74, the capacitor in the scanning generator 96is discharged, the flip-flop 66 is reset, and the display tube beam isdeflected to a position adjacent the left margin. On the other hand,when the flip-flop 66 is in a false state and the end of first messageportion character is detected, the flip-flop 66 is switched to a truestate, the capacitor in the scanning generator 96 is discharged, and thebeam in display tube 50 is deflected to a position adjacent the rightmargin.

A camera device 118 is provided adjacent the face of display tube 50.The camera device 118 includes light sensitive film for recording imagesproduced by the display tube 50. An exposure control means 120 isutilized to couple the camera device 118 to the tape reader 52 for thepurpose of synchronizing the feed rate of the tape with the exposuretime required by the camera device 118. That is, it should be apparentthat if for some reason longer exposures of the light sensitive film incamera device 118 are required, the feed rate of the tape to the readerS2 must be slowed. On the other hand, if the exposure time can bereduced, the tape can be fed more rapidly.

From tihe foregoing, it should be apparent that a system has beenprovided herein by which a certain class of messages can be easilyjustified. Essentially, the basis of the apparatus is that justificationof certain material can be accomplished by assuring that the first andlast characters of a message are aligned with left and right margins byactually physically controlling their placement and by inserting excessspace between the rst and last portions of the message. The excess spacecan be fil-led with a number of spacer characters which can beautomatically determined by developing the sum of the space value unitsrequired for the message characters and subtracting this amount of spacefrom the total space available for a message.

Although `a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustratedherein, it is specifically pointed out that considerable variations inapparatus are equally as feasible as the one illustrated. Moreover, itis emphasized that the basic teachings of the invention, that is ofassuring proper `placement of the first and last characters of a messageby controlling fthe beams in character generator and display tubes andfor causing the beams to scan in both a forward and a reverse direction,can be performed by hand.

What is claimed is:

1. In a system for displaying messages wherein each message includesfirst and last portions and each portion is comprised of a plurality ofordered characters including first and last characters, a display deviceincluding a cathode ray tube; means for generating a beam in saiddisplay cathode ray tube; means for initially generating a video signalrepresentative of isaid first character in said first portion and forsuccessively generating video signals representative of subsequentcharacters in said first portion; means effective concurrent with saidgeneration of said video signal representative of said first characterin said first portion for deflecting said display tube beam to a firstposition and effective concurrent with the generation of each successivevideo signal for incrementally deflecting said display tube beam in aforward direction toward a second position; means for secondlyHgenerating a video signal representative of said last character in saidlast portion `and for successively generating video signalsrepresentative of prior characters in said last portion; means effectiveconcurrent with said generation of said video signal representative ofsaid last character in said last portion for detlecting said display'tube beam to said second position and effective concurrent with thegeneration of each successive video signal for incrementally deiiectingsaid display tube beam in a reverse direction toward said firstposition; a memory storing information idefining the space in which eachcharacter in said message is displayed; means for summing the spaceattributable to each character in said message for developing a totalcharacter space; means for determining the space difference between saidtotal character space and the total space provided for said message;means determining the number of spacer characters that can be displayedin said space difference; means for successively generating videosignals representing said number of spacer characters; and meanseffective concurrent with said generation of said video signalsrepresentative of said spacer characters for incrementally moving saiddisplay tube beam through said space between the leftmost character insaid second portion and the rightmost character in said first portion.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for `generating videosignals represenative of said characters of said first and secondportions comprises a character gcnerator including a cathode ray tube; atarget having a plurality of characters thereon; means for generating abeam in said character generator cathode ray tube; means for initiallydefiecting said character generator tube beam to a character on saidtarget identified by said first character in said first portion and forsuccessively defiecting said character generator tube beam to characterson said target identified by subsequent characters in said firstportion; and means for secondly defiecting said character generator tubebeam to a character on said target identified by said last character insaid last portion and for successively detiecting said charactergenerator tube beam to characters on :said ttarget identified by priorcharacters in said first portion.

3. 'Ilhe system of claim 2 including means for causing said charactergenerator tube beam to trace a raster in a first direction over eachtarget character identified by a character in said first portion and araster in a second direction over each target character identified by acharacter in said second portion.

4. A photocomposition system compriisng a display device including acathode ray tube and means for generating a beam in said tube; a sourceof messages, each of said messages including first and last portions,each portion being comprised of a plurality of ordered charactersincluding first and last characters, said characters being representedby character codes manifested by digital data signals; a charactergenerator device responsive to said digital data signals for initiallygenerating a video signal representative of said first character in saidfirst portion and for successively thereafter generating video signalsrepresentative of subsequent characters in said first portion and forsecondly generating a video signal representative of said last characterin said last portion and for successively thereafter generating videosignals representative of prior characters in said last portion; meansapplying said video signals to said cathode ray tube for modulating theintensity of said beam; means for deflecting said beam to a positionadjacent a first margin concurrent with the application to said cathoderay tube of said video signal representative of said first character ofsaid first portion `and for incrementally deficcting said beam in afirst direction concurrent with the application of cach succeeding videosignal representative of a character in said first portion; means fordefle-cting said beam to a position adjacent a second margin concurrentwith the application to said cathode ray tube of said video signalrepresentative of said last character of said second portion and forincrementally deflecting said beam in a second direction concurrent withthe application of each succeeding video signal representative of acharacter in said second portion; a `memory sto-ring informationdefining the space in which each character in said message is displayed;means for summing the space attributable to each character in saidmessage for developing a total character space; means for determiningthe space difference between said total character space and the totalSpace provided for said message; means determining the number of spacercharacters that can be displayed in said space difference; and meansdisplaying said number of spacer characters between the rst character ofsaid second portion and the last character of said first portion.

5. In a photocomposing system, a system for spacing a two portionmessage, each portion including a plurality of ordered charactersincluding first and last characters, so that the first characters in thefirst message portion and the last character in the second messageportion are respectively aligned with first and second referencemargins, said system including:

means for initially recording on a control record a digital coderepresenting said first character in said first message portion and forsubsequently recording digital codes, in order, representing succeedingcharacters in said first message portion;

means for subsequently recording a digital code representing said lastcharacter in said second message portion and for subsequently recording,in reverse order, digital codes representing the other characters insaid second message portion;

a memory storing information defining a space value attributable to eachcharacter represented by said digital codes;

means for .summing the space values attributable to said charactersrepresented by said digital codes recorded on said record for developinga total character space;

means for determining the space difference between said total characterspace and the total space provided for said message; and

means responsive to said space difference for recording on said record aplurality of digital codes each representative of a spacer character.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said video signal deflects said displaytube beam to describe said characters and including camera means forrecording on light sensitive film images produced by said display tube;

means for controlling the exposure time of said camera means; and

means for relating said exposure time to 'the rate at which said beamdescribes said characters.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,388,961 lf/1945Elliott 95-45 2,624,798 1/1953 Dinga 178-6] 2,923,215 2/1960 Corrado 954.5 2,963,544 12/1960 Nieset ITS-6.8

JOHN M. HORAN, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A SYSTEM FOR DISPLAYING MESSAGES WHEREIN EACH MESSAGE INCLUDESFIRST AND LAST PORTIONS AND EACH PORTION IS COMPRISIED OF A PLURALITY OFORDERED CHARACTERS INCLUDING FIRST AND LAST CHARACTERS, A DISPLAY DEVICEINCLUDING A CATHODE RAY TUBE; MEANS FOR GENERATING A BEAM IN SAIDDISPLAY CATHODE RAY TUBE; MEANS FOR INITIALLY GENERATING A VIDEO SIGNALREPRESENTATIVE OF SAID FIRST CHARACTER IN SAID FIRST PORTION AND FORSUCCESSIVELY GENERATING VIDEO SIGNALS REPRESENTATIVE OF SUBSEQUENTCHARACTERS IN SAID FIRST PORTION; MEANS EFFECTIVE CONCURRENT WITH SAIDGENERATION OF SAID VIDEO SIGNAL REPRESENTATIVE OF SAID FIRST CHARACTERIN SAID FIRST PORTION FOR DEFLECTING SAID DISPLAY TUBE BEAM TO A FIRSTPOSITION AND EFFECTIVE CONCURRENT WITH THE GENERATION OF EACH SUCCESSIVEVIDEO SIGNAL FOR INCREMENTALLY DEFLECTING SAID DISPLAY TUBE BEAM IN AFORWARD DIRECTION TOWARD A SECOND POSITION; MEANS FOR SECONDLYGENERATING A VIDEO SIGNAL REPRESENTATIVE OF SAID LAST CHARACTER IN SAIDLAST PORTION AND FOR SUCFESSIVELY GENERATING VIDEO SIGNALSREPRESENTATIVE OF PRIOR CHARACTERS IN SAID LAST PORTION; MEANS EFFECTIVECONCURRENT WITH SAID GENERATION OF SAID VIDEO SIGNAL REPRESENTATIVE OFSAID LAST CHARACTER IN SAID LAST PORTION FOR DEFLECTING SAID DISPLAYTUBE BEAM TO SAID SECOND POSITION OF EFFECTIVE CONCURRENT WITH THEGENERATION OF EACH SUCCESSIVE VIDEO SIGNAL FOR INCREMENTALLY DEFLECTINGSAID DISPLAY TUBE BEAM IN A REVERSE DIRECTION TOWARD SAID FIRSTPOSITION; A MEMORY STORING INFORMATION DEFINING THE SPACE IN WHICH EACHCHARACTER IN SAID MESSAGE IS DISPLAYED; MEANS FOR SUMMING THE SPACEATTRIBUTABLE TO EACH CHARACTER IN SAID MESSAGE FOR DEVELOPING A TOTALCHARACTER SPACE; MEANS FOR DETERMINING THE SPACE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SAIDTOTOL CHARACTER SPACE AND THE TOTAL SPACE PROVIDED FOR SAID MESSAGE;MEANS DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF SPACER CHARACTERS THAT CAN BE DISPLAYEDIN SAID SPACE DIFFERENCE; MEANS FOR SUCCESSIVELY GENERATING VIDEO SIGNALREPRESENTING SAID NUMBER OF SPACER CHARACTERS; AND MEANS EFFECTIVECONCURRENT WITH SAID GENERATION OF SAID VIDEO SIGNAL REPRESENTATIVE OFSAID SPACER CHARACTERS FOR INCREMENTALLY MOVING SAID DISPLAY TUBE BEAMTHROUGH SAID SPACE BETWEEN THE LEFTMOST CHARACTER IN SAID SECOND PORTIONAND THE RIGHTMOST CHARACTER IN SAID FIRST PORTION.